Football: Alemany showing lots of confidence in its defense

There was a loud, booming voice echoing around the Alemany practice field on Saturday morning.

Brigham Harwell, a former defensive line standout at Los Altos and UCLA, was making his presence known to Alemany’s defensive linemen. The new defensive line coach has added renewed intensity to a defensive unit that could be one of the best in Coach Dean Herrington’s 10 years at the Mission Hills campus.

“I’m really excited about the defense,” Herrington said. “It’s by far the most physical defense I’ve had here since I’ve been coaching at Alemany.”

Harwell had been an assistant at Cantwell-Sacred Heart, and Herrington said he has been doing a “fabulous job” working with the linemen.

Improved play at the linebacker position should help Alemany. Junior Lamin Touray is the player to watch. Working his way into the lineup is El Camino Real transfer Darian Cohen. Kyrell Naope, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound senior, should be prominent on the line. There’s questions about the secondary, but junior Chris Ojoh, a transfer from Verdugo Hills, is starting to make an impact.

Offensively, much will revolve around the play of sophomore quarterback Brevin White and sophomore running back Jordan Anderson. Both will be asked to be ready from the outset, starting with a season opener against Garfield.

The Warriors recently added an intriguing player from Canada, Massaman Ladji Bagayoko, who’s 6-5 and 280 pounds. He’s a junior and another big lineman added to the mix.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer